Thursday, May 20, 2010

the nightingale and the rose

One of my favorite of Oscar Wilde’s fairy tales is the tragic story of the nightingale and the rose, one of a large number of accounts which emphasize the bloodiness of the red rose, and explore the notion of ‘painting’ a white rose red (another famous exploration of this concept can be found in Alice in Wonderland, also an exploration of pointlessness of human endeavor, where the Red Queen’s servants are charged with the difficult task of painting all white roses in the garden red).

As I have been composing posts for my rose week giveaway drawing, i have realized that it is interesting how the vast history of the rose contains so many aspects of human existence—sex (i.e. bed of roses), eroticism (i.e. la roman de la rose), exoticism (China, Moroccan, Damask roses) death (i.e. the killer rose brambles and thorns surrounding Sleeping beauty’s castle), aesthetic death (The Rose and the nightingale), sacrifice (Christ’s blood), virginity (The Virgin Mary), hatred and warfare (War of the Roses), simplicity (rosy cheeks), and overkill (how everyone hates rose perfumes now, or hates the smell of roses because they are too ubiquitous).

This post will be the last of the rose week-themed series, and I have learned a few things:

I love roses, but not most rose perfumes. Most are composed with too much fruit or too much powder, or lack depth and darkness, a quality of roses I feel should be emphasized

roses have to be the most interesting and evocative flowers in human history; no flower has inspired as many poems, songs, and fragrances

I love the classic combination of rose with jasmine. Each rounds out the other. I also love rose and incense, rose and wood, and rose and green notes.

It is very hard to keep posting on only one subject for over a week—I keep wanting to write about other things as they strike me. Obviously I need to take this into account the next time I create special blog ‘events’

It is fun to draw in readers with special giveaways—I am a few followers richer than I was when I began this event, and that makes me very happy. New fragrance friends= fun in my book! Welcome to all you new readers!

Well, thanks for sticking with me as I blather on about roses day in and day out. Stay tuned tomorrow when I announce the winner of the draw!

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Musing about the Good Life

Welcome to an eclectic world of aesthetic delight! This site explores what it means to prioritize a life lived sensually, with an emphasis on that most neglected of faculties, smell. Here you'll find perfume reviews and musings, recipes, bookish thoughts, and rhapsodies on all things that fill our lives with art in little, yet important, ways.